Gold's grand vision

NEWMONT Mining vice-chairman Pierre Lassonde believes the China-led resources boom will last a generation, and has tipped the price of gold will pass $US1000 ($A1169) an ounce.
Speaking at the annual Diggers and Dealers forum in Kalgoorlie yesterday, Mr Lassonde said China and India were likely to power world commodities markets for a further two decades.
He said the developing economies might experience hiccups along the way, but that wouldn't disrupt the upward trajectory of prices.
"This bull market in natural resources will last a whole generation. That's 20 years," Mr Lassonde said.
Known to be a gold bull, Mr Lassonde yesterday tipped that the price of the yellow metal would pass $US850 an ounce in the next 12 months but declined to put a timeframe on the $US1000 mark.
"I believe that gold will have three zeros after the first number. I just don't know what the first number will be." he said.
Gold is now fetching about $US670 an ounce. He said platinum and oil prices also had  room to rise, but predicted copper and molybdenum prices had hit the peak in the cycle.
Newmont is the world's second largest gold producer and expects to produce up to 5.6 million ounces from its global operations this year.
It lost the number one spot to Canada's Barrick gold last year, but Mr Lassonde said yesterday the company would attempt to reclaim the title over the coming months